March Madness delivered yet another unforgettable moment as St. John’s Red Storm stunned the Kansas Jayhawks with a buzzer-beating layup, sending the Red Storm to their first Sweet 16 since 1999. On March 22, 2026, at Viejas Arena in San Diego, the fifth-seeded Red Storm edged fourth-seeded Kansas 67-65, thanks to a single, spectacular basket from Dylan Darling—a shot that will echo in St. John’s lore for years to come.
For nearly 40 minutes, Darling, a transfer guard in his first season in Queens, had failed to make a single shot. Yet, with the score tied and 3.9 seconds remaining, he called his own number. The play? ‘Power’—a high, back-screen pick-and-roll. As the ball was inbounded, Darling took off from behind halfcourt, knifed through the heart of the Kansas defense, and banked in a right-handed layup as time expired. His teammates erupted, tackling him in front of the St. John’s band, while Red Storm fans celebrated the end of a 27-year Sweet 16 drought.
“I probably don’t deserve this,” Darling admitted, grinning sheepishly in the postgame locker room. “I was pretty bad all night long. But my teammates held it down tonight. Everybody stepped up. Just happy to keep this thing rolling.” According to head coach Rick Pitino, Darling’s confidence never wavered. “Bells come up to me and says, run ‘Power,’” Pitino recounted, referencing Darling’s nickname. “So I walk away, and I said, ‘Wait a second. He hasn’t scored a bucket, and he wants to run a play for himself?’ But he’s Bells. And not only did he do it, he went with his right hand. I’m real proud of him, because to want the ball when you haven’t made a shot is unbelievable.”
St. John’s led by as many as 14 points in the second half, riding the hot hands of Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins. The duo combined for 36 points—Ejiofor with 18 points and nine rebounds, Hopkins matching him with 18 and adding seven boards, including six three-pointers. The Red Storm, typically not a team known for prolific outside shooting, set a Pitino-era record with 23 three-point attempts in the first half and finished 11-of-35 from deep. Their overall shooting hovered at 36%, just enough to keep Kansas at bay until the dramatic finish.
But Kansas, as always, refused to go quietly. The Jayhawks, led by star freshman Darryn Peterson, clawed back from a daunting 14-point deficit. Peterson poured in 21 points, including two clutch free throws with 13.1 seconds remaining to knot the score at 65. Alongside him, Melvin Council Jr. contributed 15 points and nine rebounds, while Flory Bidunga added 12 points and three blocks. The Jayhawks’ comeback was fueled by relentless defense and timely buckets, with their only lead of the game coming early in the first half.
After Peterson’s free throws, Kansas had four fouls to give and used them all to wind the clock down to 3.9 seconds. It was a calculated strategy meant to limit St. John’s final possession, but it left just enough time for Darling’s heroics. “The tournament, one of the things that makes it so great is that it can be great, but it can also be cruel,” Kansas head coach Bill Self reflected. “We obviously put ourselves in a position to play from behind the whole game, and then really competed and played great down the stretch. Just didn’t finish what we had started down the stretch.”
The Jayhawks’ heartbreak was palpable. Since their 2022 national title, Kansas has failed to reach the Sweet 16, a drought that now stretches four years. Peterson, who battled cramps, illness, and an ankle injury throughout the season, appeared in just 23 of the team’s 35 games but still managed to lead Kansas in scoring. His future now turns to the NBA, where he is projected as a potential No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft, likely to compete with Duke’s Cameron Boozer and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa for top honors.
The Red Storm’s resurgence under Rick Pitino has been nothing short of remarkable. In just three seasons, Pitino has transformed St. John’s from an afterthought into a Big East powerhouse. This year, the Red Storm captured both the Big East regular-season and tournament titles and have now won 21 of their last 22 games since early January. Pitino, at 73, continues to defy expectations, coaching with the same fire and tactical brilliance that earned him multiple national championships. His counterpart, Bill Self, 63, remains one of the game’s greats, but Sunday’s loss marked only the second time the two Hall of Famers have faced off in their storied careers—and the first in the NCAA Tournament.
The atmosphere at Viejas Arena was electric, with both fanbases sensing the magnitude of the moment. For St. John’s, the victory marks just their second and third NCAA Tournament wins in the past 25 years, a testament to the perseverance of a program hungry for national relevance. The Red Storm’s defense forced turnovers and capitalized on Kansas’ mistakes, while their willingness to launch three-pointers—despite a modest 33% season average—kept the Jayhawks guessing.
Yet, the game was not without controversy. In the final minutes, a questionable over-and-back call against St. John’s drew the ire of Pitino, who had already used his only challenge earlier in the half. The Red Storm’s offense sputtered at times, managing just 25-of-69 shooting, but their resilience never wavered. Kansas, meanwhile, struggled with turnovers and inconsistent outside shooting, with only one player other than Peterson making a three-pointer in the tournament prior to Kohl Rosario’s clutch shot late in the second half.
Looking ahead, St. John’s faces a daunting challenge: a Sweet 16 matchup against the No. 1 overall seed, Duke, at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The Blue Devils, led by their own crop of future NBA stars, present a formidable obstacle. But after breaking a 27-year Sweet 16 drought in such dramatic fashion, who’s to say the Red Storm can’t keep this magical run alive?
As the confetti settled and the echoes of celebration faded in San Diego, one thing was clear: Dylan Darling’s moment of courage and composure had changed the course of St. John’s basketball history. The Red Storm are dancing on, and the madness of March rolls right along.